By Felipe Gomes
CUFA USA - Sustainable Business and Innovation
Hello everyone!
From April 09 to May 11 I’ve had the opportunity to experience the current reality of most Central American countries.
With a Social look and not with a Tourist look I could see several realities that coalesce and form a chain of different social classes, which often are incompatible in the current socio economic realities of such countries.
The trip plan was to go in thirty days through the following countries of Central America: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala then to finish in Belize a Caribbean country.
The primary objective was to bring these countries into a socio economic and cultural benefit to the real needs that were raised and studied, making it easier to creating solutions for short or long term and implement effective actions in the near future.
The transport used most often was the public transportation. Sometimes, even cross borders. With it was possible to make the travel cheaper and at the same time to be closer to the everyday life of local people being included in their reality.
In Costa Rica, the buses in the capital San Jose and surrounding cities are very similar to municipal bus from São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, however, to begin to rise for other countries the situation changes quite precarious and transportation is increasingly evident.
In "Chicken” buses and cars with poor condition in most cases, the population of the countries of Central America moves every day, whether in rural or urban, to keep their sources of low incomes and continue fighting the furor by a government failed and absent in lower social classes, those that require more assistance.
Walking through very poor neighborhoods and isolated communities it’s possible to follow the struggle for survival of people who still follow many interesting cultures and beliefs which in most cases is Maya! Therefore one of the more common occupations is still a craftsman, seamstresses and many other crafts that become a source of income.
The food is simple and at breakfast the famous "Gallo Pinto (black beans, fried egg or scrambled, fresh cheese, cream and tortillas) leads the requests in the streets, bars and homes. Fruits like mango, banana, watermelon, orange and others are found on every street corner vendors who sell them already peeled and cut for very low prices and contributes to a much more healthy food than many other countries. Generally, in the same places you get delicious juices with the same fruits. The chicken meat is the most consumed and the cheapest one.
The heat is often very strong, even in cities with high altitude, but the work never stops in rural areas. Even on Sundays you will find many workers on the farms of bananas, oranges or other specialty, and working very long hours. At the end of the day they leave to return to their families, take a bucket of cold water to bath and to sleep before everything starts again. Women carry huge baskets and often clay pots on their heads, either with water or fruit and home cakes to sell in the "calles" (streets).
Children put their school uniforms and spend half day in public schools and the other half often working with parents on the streets. In the city of Granada, Nicaragua, more than 2,000 children attend the center for extracurricular activities “Carita Feliz”, that develops something extraordinary forming children better prepared for future challenges and a more open mind, because one of its main functions is to show the range options that life offers. Possibly, a future CUFA’s partner.
Talking to local people, I wondered about the situation in their homes. Often, even without any luxury or even with poor sanitation and poor housing conditions, the fact that they can cook rice and beans every day for their children was sufficient for a modest smile that expressed a discreet happiness of who is not hungry. The food, fortunately is not a major problem.
The lack of policy and conduct of certain governments rather, are a major problem. Corruption is a serious issue in most countries and the lack of good relationship between neighbors countries is also something sad. Already there were often attempts at unification in Central America, but was never actually put into practice. The lack of trust of people in their government is something that frustrates and brings out a feeling of contempt and betrayal. You can see it in people beyond the poverty, they are abused by this lack of morality. Compared to Africa, I conclude that: "Many times the innocence, goes hand in hand with happiness." Because in Africa I could see that even innocent people in politically even in a misery live their days in the best possible way and did not express this lack of morality and disregard what I could see in Central America.
Another major problem found is violence. Nowadays, in cities such as San Salvador in El Salvador or Tegucigalpa in Honduras, are places where the night walking in the streets is out of the question. In San Salvador, 12 people are killed at gunpoint a day. I’m not just talking about slums and desolate places, either because even in Tegucigalpa, in some evening I was in a slum that I didn’t know, alone, walking with all my stuff back and I did not feel afraid, because everything I saw was people were in packed buses, returning from work, or working on the streets for daily bread. However, there are places very rich in these cities to an audience entirely selected which can be as dangerous as others. The lack of government support in areas of risk and the absence of security actions makes most places risk points and always at gunpoint in large cities. Small towns and more tourist are much calmer now, both because tourism is the economic basis of most of these countries. The crimes grow too much and indignation and lack of resources in society is what drives to it.
For this now I get the main point of discussion. The problems are blending and creating a social monster. It is necessary for effectiveness in solving all these problems, whether through education, culture, environment or development, either where they should be treated everyone equally and urgently. Because the violence will not cease to grow if poverty is not controlled. And poverty will never be controlled if corruption is not unmasked. And among many, many other factors that add more and more social diseases that must be treated.
This is the social look that discriminates primary facts to the growth and change in a positive way in underdeveloped countries.
Opportunities can be given and so robbers can build schools, politicians can build an honest and glorious country and children can believe in a better future. Role reversal is required.
